Southwest China sees soaring border trade

KUNMING -- Southwest China's Yunnan province registered 10.5 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in mutual trade among its border residents in 2015, up by 32.9 percent year-on-year.

Bordering the countries of Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam, Yunnan province witnessed a total foreign trade volume of 727.57 billion yuan in five years from 2011 to 2015, with an average annual growth rate of 10.8 percent, according to Kunming Customs of the province.

In order to boost foreign trade, the customs conducted cooperative activities such as data exchanges and reducing fees during import and export, with several Southeast Asian countries.

Customs authorities said they had also improved customs supervision and service, and promoted the opening of several new trading ports and the establishment of bonded logistic centers and warehouses.